Albertsons Terminates Merger With Kroger; Seeks Billions Of Dollars In Damages From Kroger

(RTTNews) - Albertsons Companies, Inc. (ACI) said it has exercised right to terminate merger agreement with Kroger after the U.S. District Court in Oregon and the King County Superior Court for the State of Washington issued injunctions with respect to the proposed merger on December 10, 2024.

Vivek Sankaran, CEO, said: "Given the recent federal and state court decisions to block our proposed merger with Kroger, we have made the difficult decision to terminate the merger agreement."

Cerberus Capital Management, L.P., Albertsons' largest shareholder, stated that, "While we are disappointed with the courts' decisions, we remain confident in Albertsons' strength as a standalone company, and we believe that it is significantly undervalued in its current trading range. Accordingly, Cerberus has no intention of selling any of its shares in the company."

Albertsons said it filed a lawsuit against The Kroger Co. in the Delaware Court of Chancery, bringing claims for willful breach of contract and breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing arising from Kroger's failure to exercise best efforts and to take any and all actions to secure regulatory approval of the companies' agreed merger transaction. Albertsons said the termination entitles it to an immediate $600 million termination fee and removes contractual constraints on Albertsons' ability to pursue other strategic opportunities.

For fiscal 2024, Albertsons expects: annual identical sales growth in the range of 1.8% to 2.2%; and annual adjusted net income per Class A common share in the range of $2.20 to $2.30 per share.

Albertsons announced that its Board of Directors intends to increase its quarterly cash dividend 25% from $0.12 per share to $0.15 per share. The Board has also authorized a share repurchase program of up to $2 billion.